Site Investigation

The Tabarak Abad Dam on the river Tabarak, a branch of Atrak river, is located about 25 km of northeast of Quchan city in the northeast of Iran. The dam is now under construction and will be completed in 2002. The Tabarak Abad Dam has been designed as an earthfill dam ...

Deep ocean water (DOW) is commonly referred to as the water below photic zone in the ocean that is typically cold, clean, stable, and rich in nutrients. Japan and the United States have been exploiting the DOW for utilization in water, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and fishery industries for many years. Since 2000, Taiwan has started the preliminary planning for the exploitation

The gas industry has been in the UK spotlight
recently, due to increasing gas prices, shale gas,
depleting UK gas fields and a growing dependency
on gas for electricity production. The public gas industry
celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2012, and this article
provides a summary of its history and assesses whether
gas has been a friend or a foe.
Whilst gas is expected to be there at the flick of a switch
to power your cooker or boiler, the infrastructure that
provides this supply is all but hidden from sight below
ground. Some of you may be aware of gasholders, the
tall cylindrical telescopic storage vessels (see Figure 1)
that are gradually disappearing from our landscape, but
beyond this, little is seen. As many of the developments
associated with the gas industry are not obvious, this
article shines a light on the industry’s past.
Gas has featured in human society for thousands of
years, having spiritual significance where ‘eternal flames’
– burning seepages of gas – formed the centrepiece of
religious shrines. The ancient Chinese captured natural
gas for heating salt pans. Firedamp was feared in British
coal mines for its explosive properties when ignited, but
engineers such as Spedding had seen the potential for
extracting and burning this gas for lighting purposes.

Uncertainty in geological and geotechnical parameters is inevitable as it is never possible to accurately determine every aspect of the ground conditions along the tunnel alignment during site investigations. As a consequence, there are many potential sources of geotechnical risk in both mechanized and conventional tunneling techniques. Problems such as encountering crushed and fault zones with running gouge, tunnel face and wall instabilities in blocky ground, large quantities of water inflow and converging tunnel sections are the principal geotechnical risks which affect the selection of an appropriate tunnel boring machine. The paper discusses the use of a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process as an efficient means of decision-making, which can take into account the different criteria pertinent to proper machine selection for anticipated ground conditions. L’incertitude sur les paramètres géologiques et géotechniques est inévitable car il n’est jamais possible de déterminer précisément chaque aspect des conditions de terrain pendant les reconnaissances le long d’un tracé de tunnel. En conséquence, il y a de nombreuses sources potentielles de risque géotechnique à la fois dans la mise en œuvre des techniques de creusement traditionnelles ou mécanisées. Des problèmes tels que la rencontre de zones broyées et faillées avec des remplissages meubles, des instabilités au front et sur les parements dans des terrains fracturés, des venues d’eau importantes et des phénomènes de convergence sont les principaux risques géotechniques qui affectent le choix d’un tunnelier adapté au terrain. L’article discute de l’utilisation d’une méthode basée sur l’approche Fuzzy AHP dans la prise de décision, qui puisse bien prendre en compte les différents critères pertinents pour le choix d’un tunnelier adapté aux conditions de terrain.

The present paper submits a set geotechnical maps for the area of An-Najaf city, by using contour lines to represent the different geotechnical properties of the soil. The present research work is very important step toward preparing a geotechnical database for this region, to complete the geotechnical database over all the country, (Iraq). Using such a database is very important in geotechincal investigation, reconnaissance phase, of construction projects. Within this phase of site investigation, numbers, depths and locations of the boreholes needed, will be determined. A well known commercial software (SURFER 11), was used to produce the all the contour maps of geotechnical properties presented herein. A forty nine (49) contour maps were produced to cover the variations, within the geotechnical properties of the soil, to produce realistic description to these soil properties. Both Google maps and Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system (UTM) have been used in the contour maps for easy use.

This overview paper draws together findings from previous focus group research and studies of 100 individual construction accidents. Pursuing issues raised by the focus groups, the accident studies collected qualitative information on the circumstances of each incident and the causal influences involved. Site based data collection entailed interviews with accident-involved personnel and their supervisor or manager, inspection of the accident location, and review of appropriate documentation. Relevant issues from the site investigations were then followed up with off-site stakeholders, including designers, manufacturers and suppliers. Levels of involvement of key factors in the accidents were: problems arising from workers or the work team (70% of accidents), workplace issues (49%), shortcomings with equipment (including PPE) (56%), problems with suitability and condition of materials (27%), and deficiencies with risk management (84%). Employing an ergonomics systems approach, a model is proposed, indicating the manner in which originating managerial, design and cultural factors shape the circumstances found in the work place, giving rise to the acts and conditions which, in turn, lead to accidents. It is argued that attention to the originating influences will be necessary for sustained improvement in construction safety to be achieved.

Systematic errors in field permeability tests, performed in exploratory boreholes are often ignored, even though numerous cases of erroneous measurements are reported in the literature and there is a consensus that borehole tests should be treated with caution. In most cases, measurement errors are overlooked when they overestimate the ground permeability parameters and lead to a more conservative design of the dewatering systems in cofferdam design. However, when the blow-out stability of the bottom of deep excavation pits is to be assessed, such errors which lead to overestimation of actual ground permeability result to an unconservative design. This work stresses attention to errors associated with leakage of testing water during the execution of variable head tests in cased boreholes. Variable head permeability tests are routinely executed during exploratory drilling and they are very popular due to their low cost. Sealing of the testing tip is ensured by the convergence of the soil around the casing. However, this sealing is not perfect when the test is executed in lightly to moderately cemented soils/soft rocks and the loss of testing water through this imperfect sealing, result to overestimation of the water seeping into the testing tip during testing and consequently the in situ ground permeability. Recognition and quantification of measurement errors associated with such leakages improves our ability to identify the cases where these errors become dominant and to avoid misleading test interpretations. Simple interpretative models developed in the present study demonstrate that these errors can become significant in low permeability (k<10 7 − m/sec) cohesive soils or lightly cemented silty sands. It is pointed out that the errors may be impossible to detect solely by inspecting the test data, especially if the head drop during testing is small. It is recommended to compare the measured permeability values with estimates based on grading data or other empirical relations and when significant differences are detected it is suggested to perform further testing in installed piezometers with reliably isolated testing tips. If the issue becomes critical for the design, it is recommended to perform pumping tests on carefully constructed pumping wells.

Site investigation is essential prior to all construction activities of engineering structures for determining the suitability of the site for the construction of the proposed structure. The results from the site investigation gives us the information about the soil profile and the ground water table condition at the site. Various in-situ tests are carried out like Standard Penetration Test (SPT), Electrical Resistivity Technique (ERT), Vane Shear Test (VST), Plate Load Test (PLT), Pile Load Test, Flat Plate Dilatometer Test, Packer Test, Cone Penetration Test (CPT) and many others during the site exploration. The data and results obtained from these tests are essential in identifying the soil type, analyzing and the strength and deformation properties and parameters of soil as well as the ground water condition of the site. This paper intends to summarize the processes and various corrections that are involved in Standard Penetration Test (SPT) and its importance and implication in geotechnical analysis and site exploration. The tools and equipment in this test involved are cable percussion drilling rig, soil sampler (especially split spoon sampler), spirit level, boring machine and a hammer with few other miscellaneous. The soil sampler is pushed or penetrated into the ground by hammer of 63.5kg making it fall freely from a standard height of 750mm. The collected disturbed and undisturbed soil samples, hammer blows and energy are analyzed and interpreted to determine or more specifically to estimate the shear strength of soil, relative density and bearing strength of the soil at different depths. This test also helps in determining the aspects of soil which later can be improved by soil stabilizing or by any one or combination of various ground improvement techniques. In accordance of these interpretations, analysis and estimates, suitable foundation design and further construction work for the proposed structure are recommended.

Site  exploration  and  estimation  of  soil  attributes  are key  parts  of  a  geotechnical  outline  process.  Geotechnical engineers must focus the normal qualities and variability of soil properties.  In-situ  testing  is  turning  out  to  be  progressively essential  in  geotechnical  engineering,  as  basic  laboratory  tests may not be solid while more advanced lab testing can be drawn out  and  exorbitant.  One  of  in-situ  testing  examples  is  the Standard  Penetration  Test  (SPT).  SPT  is  utilized  to  recognize soil type and stratigraphy alongside being a relative measure of quality.  SPT  is  a  settled  technique  for  to  determine  soil properties,  for  example,  bearing  capacity,  liquefaction  and  so forth.  Various  types  of  tests  are  being  used  around  the  world, institutionalization  is essential with  a  specific  end  goal  to encourage    the    examination    of    results    from    diverse examinations.  The  nature  of  the  test  relies  on  upon  a  few elements,  including  the  real  energy  conveyed  to  the  drill  rod, the  dynamic  properties  of  the  drill  rod,  the  properties  of  the soil,  the  strategy  for  penetrating  and  the  steadiness  of  the borehole.  As  per  the  inaccessibility  of  hardware,  furthermore monetary  and  time  restrictions  in  an  undertaking  project, correlations may be used to gauge the geotechnical parameters from  the  values  obtained  from  the  in-situ  tests.  One  of  the critical  parameters  is  bearing  capacity  of  the  soil  which  could be assessed from standard penetration test. Additionally, a simple model is represented graphically in this paper to interpret SPT-N value.

Site investigation for different Infrastructures plays a vital role for examining the suitability of the site for different proposed construction projects. Since, it is the surveys for different factors which can be positive and/or negative influence on required activities during design and construction stages. In addition to this, site investigation is needed in order to have long life, economical and functional of different structures [5], [8]. Bridge is civil engineering structure, which has different function for given community as per social, economic, and political aspects. It is commonly built over a river, a dry valley or any depressed part of land to provide a link between the two opposite sides. Thus, before construction of such projects their site investigation is quit important. Bazo River is found in between two (Garda-Marta and Male) Woredas in Gamo zone, Ethiopia. This river has high discharge capacity of 409.7m 3 /s at dry season and 854.2m 3 /s wet season. But it was stayed without any function for the community just starting from peoples settled in the area. Hence, this research was directed to assess the site for bridge and diversion work. The main objective of this research study was Site Investigation on Bazo River for Bridge construction at Garda-Marta and Male Woredas, Ethiopia. Therefore, the study covers the feasibility of the site for bridge construction, hydrological data collection; and geotechnical investigation and analysis on subsoil materials [2], [7]. In addition to bridge foundation soil investigation, road subgrade soil investigation was also conducted to have soil class and load bearing behavior for future pavement design.

Every state needs a special prosecutor’s office dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of identity theft/financial fraud, which is often a multi-jurisdictional crime. This would facilitate a robust investigation and prosecution of such crime. There are numerous problems that arise with localized prosecution in the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes and identity theft. It is a pervasive crime and the number of victims, limited government resources, overworked or inexperienced prosecutors, lack of knowledge or understanding of the elements of the crime, and application of the traditional approach to jurisdiction used in physical crimes further compound the problem.

Volcanic rocks from the Bodrum Peninsula have been studied to establish a relationship between the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), Young’s modulus (E) and Schmidt hammer rebound number (N). Test results obtained on andesites, basalts and tuffs have been assessed statistically and the parameters obtained correlated. Regression equations were established between N, E and UCS. The study suggests the following empirical relationships: UCS=2.75 N−36.83, E=0.17 UCS+0.28 and E=0.47 N−6.25. The relationships are somewhat different from the correlations suggested by previous studies and should therefore be used only for andesites, basalts and tuffs with degrees of weathering and mineralogical structure similar to those used in the present study. The results obtained using solely the Schmidt hammer test for estimating mechanical properties of rocks are less accurate than when a full suite of laboratory tests is carried out but it is hoped that these empirical equations will help geotechnical engineers making practical decisions at a preliminary site investigation stage. Les roches volcaniques de la péninsule de Bodrum ont été étudiées afin d’établir une relation entre la résistance à la compression simple (UCS), le module d’Young (E) et l’indice de rebond au marteau de Schmidt (N). Les résultats obtenus sur des andésites, des basaltes et des tufs ont fait l’objet de traitements statistiques. Des corrélations ont été établies entre les paramètres N, E et UCS. L’étude conduit à retenir les relations empiriques suivantes: UCS=2,75 N−36,38; E=0,17 UCS+0,28 et E=0,47 N−6,25. Les relations obtenues sont quelque peu différentes de celles résultant d’études antérieures et, de ce fait, ne doivent être utilisées que pour des andésites, des basaltes et des tufs, présentant par ailleurs des compositions minéralogiques et des degrés d’altération similaires à ceux des roches considérées dans cette étude. Les résultats obtenus à partir du seul essai au marteau de Schmidt, pour estimer les propriétés mécaniques des roches, sont moins précis que si des essais mécaniques de laboratoire sont réalisés mais on espère que ces relations empiriques aideront les ingénieurs géotechniciens pour des décisions pratiques au stade des reconnaissances préliminaires de site.

In this work, the application and the effectiveness of two- and three-dimensional non-linear inversion algorithms in processing and interpretation of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) data collected from archaeological areas are investigated in the framework of a new field technique for gathering three-dimensional pole–pole tomographic data in a relatively small amount of time using standard archaeological prospection equipment. The inversion routine, for both the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional case, is based on a smoothness constrained algorithm and the forward modelling calculations are carried out using two-dimensional and three-dimensional finite element solvers respectively. Results of combined two-dimensional inversions (quasi-three-dimensional) are compared with the full three-dimensional inversions. Comparisons are carried out in relation to the optimum survey direction of gathering the tomographic data using the pole–pole array for synthetic data arising from three-dimensional structures commonly encountered in archaeological sites. The response of the algorithms in the presence of noisy data was also tested. The algorithms were also used in the processing of real data collected from the archaeological sites of Sikyon and Europos in Greece. The results from the synthetic and the real data indicate the superiority of the three-dimensional inversion algorithms in processing tomographic data. The reconstructed three-dimensional images do not suffer from the artefacts encountered in the quasi-three-dimensional approach, owing to the three-dimensional nature of the archaeological features. Most importantly, both synthetic and real data results indicate that a single survey direction is adequate to produce a valid three-dimensional subsurface image when full three-dimensional inversion is used in contrast to the quasi-three-dimensional approach, which would require that two survey directions be used to obtain satisfactory results. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

To understand the development of prehistoric cultural and economic activities, archaeologists try to obtain as much relevant information as possible. For this purpose, large numbers of similar sites must be identified, usually by non-destructive prospection methods such as aerial photography and geophysical prospection. Aerial archaeology is most effective in locating sites and the use of digital photogrammetry provides maps with high accuracy. For geophysical prospection mainly geomagnetic and geoelectrical methods or the ground-penetrating radar method are used. Near-surface measurements of the respective contrasts within physical properties of the archaeological structures and the surrounding material allows detailed mapping of the inner structures of the sites investigated. Applying specially developed wheeled instrumentation, high-resolution magnetic surveys can be carried out in a standard raster of 0.125×0.5 m covering up to 5 ha per day. Measurements of ground resistivity or radar surveys in a raster of 0.5 or 0.5×0.05 m, respectively, are used to gain information on archaeological structures and on the main stratigraphic sequence of sites covering up to 0.5 ha per day. Data on intensities of the Earth's magnetic field, apparent resistivities of the ground or amplitudinal information of radar reflections are processed using a digital image processing technique to visualize the otherwise invisible archaeological structures or monuments buried in the ground. Archaeological interpretation, in the sense of detecting, mapping and describing the archaeological structures, is done using GIS technology by combining all relevant prospection data. As most of the Middle European archaeological heritage is under a massive threat of destruction, dramatically accelerated by intensive agriculture or industrial transformation of the landscape, the prospection techniques presented here represent an approach towards an efficient documentation of the disappearing remains of our ancestors.

The purpose of this effort was to provide guidance to Air Force Installation-Restoration Program managers on the use of geophysical and soil gas reconnaissance techniques for detecting organic contaminants in the subsurface. Electromagnetic induction and direct-current resistivity surface geophysical techniques and two soil-gas monitoring techniques were tested at four Air Force bases. These techniques provide timely preliminary site information to assist in proper placement of monitoring wells. This will reduce the duration of site investigations and expense due to hit-and-miss placement of monitoring wells. In addition, a panel of expert hydrogeologists, chemists, and geophysicists provided guidance on the use of the these reconnaissance techniques. Active soil gas monitoring, where a gas sample is extracted from the soil for analysis, was the most successful method for detecting volatile organic compounds. Passive soil gas monitoring, where vapors are collected on a sorbent trap,...